Juncker testifies on Bommeleeër trial anniversary

Former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker took to the witness stand in the Bommeleeër trial on Tuesday to discuss sources implicating Luxembourg's Prince Jean in the case.

26.02.2014

(CS/jl) Former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker took to the witness stand in the Bommeleeër trial on Tuesday to discuss sources implicating Luxembourg's Prince Jean in the case.

The leader of the CSV opposition in parliament was questioned about an incident in 2005, when a witness called Eugène Beffort told Juncker in confidence that he had spotted Prince Jean, Grand Duke Henri's older brother, at Findel airport before a bomb attack there in November 1985.

Beffort passed away last year, but Juncker said on Tuesday that he was very convinced of what he had seen. The former Premier also explained that he had informed attorney general Robert Biever about the revelation, before speaking to Grand Duke Henri, who refused to believe the allegations, according to Juncker.

Prince Jean in the spotlight

The hearing took an unexpected turn when Gaston Vogel, lawyer of suspect Marc Scheer, questioned Juncker on why Prince Jean renounced his right to the throne in 1986. However, Juncker said that he had no knowledge of the reasons behind this decision, which was made long before he became head of government in 1995.

Juncker refused to be drawn into speculation by Vogel, merely saying that Grand Duke Henri had considered reinstating his brother in the line of succession, disagreeing with his father's line of argument.

On a side note, it is generally assumed that Prince Jean renounced the throne in order to be able to marry French commoner Hélène Vestur, with whom he tied the knot in 1987. However, since Henri's wife Maria Teresa was also a non-royal, this motive has been called into question.

Asked directly by judge Sylvie Conter whether he knows who is behind the Bommeleeër bombings, Juncker said: “If I knew then so would you.” The CSV politician also said he had always passed on any useful information to the judiciary, believing that all things relating to the case should be laid open.

Confusion over prince's identity

Prince Jean's name was brought into the mix by former diplomat Henri Etienne, who claimed that former attorney general Camille Wampach had revealed in February 2013, that “it was the prince.”

Wampach has denied this allegation and the 87-year-old Etienne has also since retracted part of his statement, explaining that his wife, who was also at the dinner, had heard Wampach saying “we think it was the prince.”

Additionally, the statement by Wampach was allegedly made after Etienne himself proclaimed that he believes Ben Geiben, a former member of the "gendarmerie", was behind the bombings.

There also appeared to be some confusion about the identity of the prince, with attorney general Biever saying Etienne had insisted in a phone call last week that Wampach was referring to Prince Guillaume, Grand Duke Henri's younger brother, and not Prince Jean.

However, Etienne denied this presentation of events by Biever.

Etienne, his wife and Wampach were set to meet in court on Wednesday. The Luxembourg princes are meanwhile also expected to testify in the trial, which celebrated its one year anniversary this week, without having produced a clear result so far.